[9] Report of the New York Canal Commissioners.
We had a glimpse of the town and fort of Malden, or Amherstburg, and of Boisblanc, and Gross Isle, which were the last objects distinctly seen in our ascent. The boat pushed on her way, under the guidance of good pilots, although the night was dark, and we reached our destination, and came to, at the city of Detroit, at twelve o'clock P. M., thus completing the passage in sixty-two hours.
The next morning, an official from the Executive of the Michigan Territory came on board with inquiries respecting Captain Douglass and myself, and we soon found ourselves in a circle where we were received with marked respect and attention. It was pleasing to behold that this respect arose, in a great degree, from the high interest which was manifested, in all classes, for the objects of the expedition, and the influence which its exploratory labors were expected to have on the development of the resources and prosperity of the country at large.
General Cass, who was to lead the expedition, received us cordially, and let us know that we were in season, as some days would still elapse before the preparations could be completed, and that the canoes in which we were to travel had not yet reached Detroit. We were also cordially welcomed by General Macomb, commanding the military district, Major John Biddle, commanding officer of the fort, and by the citizens generally. I was now, by the computations, about seven hundred and fifty miles from my starting-point at New York. We took up our lodgings at the old stone house occupied by Major Whipple, which, from its prominent position on the banks of the river, had sustained a random cannonade during the late war. We were here introduced to Dr. Alexander Wolcot, who filled the post of physician to the expedition, and to Lieutenant Eneas Mackey, United States artillery, commanding the escort, Major Robert A. Forsyth, private secretary of the Executive, and commissary of the expedition, and superintendent of embarkation; and to James D. Doty and Charles C. Trowbridge, Esqs., who occupied, respectively, the situations of official secretary and assistant topographer.
Detroit, the point to which I have now been conducted, is eligibly situated on the south bank of the straits of the same name, and enjoys the advantage of a regular plan and spacious streets, which have been introduced since the burning of the old French town in 1805, not a building of which, within the walls, was saved. Its main street, Jefferson Avenue, is elevated about forty feet above the river. The town consists of about two hundred and fifty houses of all descriptions, public and private, and has a population of fourteen hundred and fifty,[10] exclusive of the garrison.